Ask Christians any
one, probably except for the crazy bunch with their “God hates fags” signs, and
you will get a resigning no! Of Course NOT!
Definition of Love and Hate
John
Piper:
Both
hate and love have two different meanings. Hate can either be “intense loathing
of a quality” or “intense intentionality to destroy”. Love can be “intense delighting
in a quality”, or intense intentionally to bless (even despite the presence of sin.)
God loves – Intense delighting in a
quality
Zephaniah 3:17 (3:17) The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
(147:11) but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him,
in those who hope in his steadfast love.
God loves – Intense intentionally to
Bless (despite loathsome sin)
John 3:16
(3:16) “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
Romans 5:8
(5:8) but
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us.
God Hates – intense loathing of a
quality
Psalms 5:4-7
(5:4-7) 4For you are not a God who delights in
wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. 5The boastful shall not stand before
your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 6You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful
man. 7But I, through the abundance of your
steadfast love, will enter your house. I will bow down toward your holy temple
in the fear of you.
Psalms 11:5
(11:5) The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul
hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.
Leviticus 20:23
(20:23) And you shall not walk in the customs of the nation
that I am driving out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore
I detested them.
Proverbs 6:16-19
(6:16-19) 16There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination
to him: 17haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and
hands that shed innocent blood, 18a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil, 19a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers.
Hosea 9:15
(9:15) Every evil of theirs is in Gilgal;
there I began to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will
drive them out of my house. I will love them no more; all their princes are
rebels.
God hates - intense intentionality to destroy
Malachi 1:2-4
(1:2-4) “Yet I have loved Jacob 3but Esau I have hated. I have laid
waste his hill country and left his heritage to jackals of the desert.” 4If Edom says, “We are shattered but we
will rebuild the ruins,” the LORD of hosts says, “They may build, but I will tear
down, and they will be called ‘the wicked country,’ and ‘the people with whom
the LORD is angry forever.’”
God pours out his wrath against sinners
Romans 1:18
(1:18) For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
John 3:36
(3:36) Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
My Take:
One of my profs brought this topic up once. The saying: "God loves the sinner but hates the sin" it is such a famous one, but where is that written in the Bible?!
God is love (1 John
4:8), but he is also Righteous (Rom 3:23, 6:23). God hates evil. God’s wrath is
real, and it is not poured out on people he approves of (Rom 1:18, John 3:36). Wrath is poured out on
people God disapproves of. God feels an intense loathing towards sinners, those
who are his enemies, who refuse to worship him, those who prefer to practicing evil than than obey his commandments. God hates them (Ps 5:5, Ps 11:5, Lev 20:23, Prov 6:16-19, Hosea 9:15).
Sin is not just a
random concept. It is committed in human hearts (Mat 15:19). God hates sin, and the one
practicing sin. Sinners are the ones who are going to be punished for their
evil deeds, not sin.
Yes God loves all, and
wants all to come to the knowledge of his saving grace. (1 Tim 4:2), He “so
loved the world” (John 3:16)... he has an intense desire to bless, even when those he
does not delight in.
If
we do not understand that God finds us hateful and loathsome in our sin, we
will not be stunned by what His love is for us.
Isaiah 53 (4-6) - Jesus describes as taking our punishment for us. God put our iniquity on him and he was pierced and crushed for us BY GOD.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
We are loathsome to him in our sins, but he saves us (Romans 5:8, and he makes us the apple of his eye. God comes to us, not in our unattractiveness, he dies for us and makes us pure. It is not a question of “God loves the sinner but hates the sin”.
Isaiah 53 (4-6) - Jesus describes as taking our punishment for us. God put our iniquity on him and he was pierced and crushed for us BY GOD.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
We are loathsome to him in our sins, but he saves us (Romans 5:8, and he makes us the apple of his eye. God comes to us, not in our unattractiveness, he dies for us and makes us pure. It is not a question of “God loves the sinner but hates the sin”.
God
can love us with the intent to save us, even when we are God hating, and God dispising. When we are saved, he loves us with the desire to bless us forever,
but also with increasing delight (Zeph 3:17).
So: God loves and hates sinners
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